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Inventory Site Record

Hallfield Estate and Hallfield School (Westminster)

Brief Description

The Hallfield Estate was one of the first housing estates to be built in Westminster after WWII and was intended as a radical model for Paddington's post-war re-housing programme. The housing estate and Hallfield School were laid out on an area that had suffered severe bomb damage, where there had previously been C19th houses, including some detached villas with large gardens and the estate incorporated some mature trees from the former gardens. The blocks of flats are separated by wide greens, with flower beds near the housing and the landscaping included mounding, flowering shrubs, a hedged garden, and rose beds, and the school is set in landscaped grounds. The estate incorporated some mature trees from the former gardens, including fine London planes, horse chestnut, sycamore, ash, mulberry, magnolias and catalpa.

Practical Information
Site location:
Bishop's Bridge Road/Inverness Terrace
Postcode:
W2 6HF
What 3 Words:
images.funds.tilt
Type of site:
Housing/Estate Landscaping, Institutional Grounds
Borough:
Westminster
Open to public?
Partially
Opening times:
unrestricted to public areas
Special conditions:
Facilities:
Events:
Public transport:
Rail/Tube (Hammersmith & City, District, Circle, Bakerloo): Paddington. Tube: Royal Oak (Hammersmith & City), Bayswater (District, Circle). Bus: 7, 23, 27, 36, 70
Research updated:
01/11/2007
Last minor changes:
14/07/2022

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.westminster.gov.uk; www.hallfield.org

Full Site Description

The Hallfield Estate was designed by Tecton Architects in 1947 and was built after the firm broke up in 1948 by two of its members, Lindsay Drake and Denys Lasdun. It was intended as a radical model for the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington's post-war re-housing programme, and was Tecton Architects' last commission and largest housing project. It was inspired by Le Corbusier's 'Radiant City', a utopian vision of an urban landscape comprising high density housing blocks set in open parkland and gardens. The estate plan comprised 14 residential blocks, 6 of 10 storeys and 8 of 6 storeys, and communal amenities were to include garages, shops, laundries, a clubroom, public house, nursery school and primary school, with a 'forum' at the heart of the estate, accommodating these facilities in a group of small buildings. This 'forum' was later built in 1960 as Pickering House, a more conventional two-storey building than originally planned, containing sheltered housing, a laundry, estate office, shops, and a health centre. The round laundry at the site's north-east corner was built as planned, as was the primary school, Hallfield School, which opened in 1954, but the nursery school was not built.

The residential blocks were built in 2 phases, the first from 1949-53, the second from 1953-55. The blocks were all named after towns with stations on the Great Western Railway line that ran from Paddington: Caernarvon, Exeter, Bridgewater, Clovelly, Worcester and Tenby in Phase I and Winchester, Marlow, Pembroke, Reading, Brecon, Newbury, Lynton and Taunton in Phase II. The primary school was to be provided for children both on the estate as well as those from outside. Located to the south-west of the housing Hallfield School was built by the LCC in 1953-4, designed by Drake and Lasdun.

Hallfield Estate with Hallfield School were laid out on an area that had suffered severe bomb damage, where there had previously been C19th houses, including some detached villas with large gardens, such as Porchester Mews, and also a large communal garden at the end now occupied by blocks of flats. It is associated with John Claudius Loudon who lived at Nos. 3-5 Porchester Terrace (q.v.).

Sources consulted:

WCC, Hallfield Estate Conservation Area (1993); Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England London 3: North West', (Penguin, 1999 ed) p693/4; John Allan 'Berthold Lubetkin Architecture and the Tradition of Progress' 1992; FRS Yorke and Frederick Gibberd 'Modern Flats', 1958; Architects' Journal, 11 November 1948, 3 March 1955 pp299-310; Architect and Building News, 28 July 1950 pp99-118, 18 November 1954 pp619-626; AA Journal, January 1953, pp109-112; Concrete, January 1955 pp53-56; Techniques & Architecture (1955, series 14, no 9-10) pp96-97; Architectural Design (February 1958) pp56-57; Trevor James Dannatt 'Modern architecture in Britain: selected examples of recent building' (1959) 24 pp147-156; Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading 'Lubetkin and Tecton: architecture and social commitment: a critical study' (1981)

Further Information (Planning and Conservation)
Grid ref:
TQ260812 (526050,181250)
Size in hectares:
c.6.9
Site ownership:
WCC
Site management:
CityWest Homes; Hallfield Residents Association
Date(s):
1949-60
Designer(s):
Tecton; Lindsay Drake & Denys Lasdun
Listed structures:
LBII*: Hallfield School. LBII: Hallfield Estate (14 blocks and laundry)
On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No
Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No
Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:
No
In Conservation Area:
Yes
Conservation Area name:
Hallfield Estate
Tree Preservation Order:
No
Nature Conservation Area:
Yes - Local Importance
Green Belt:
No
Metropolitan Open Land:
No
Special Policy Area:
No
Other LA designation:
None
Photos

Hallfield Estate and Hallfield School

Photo Pamela Paterson (1995)

Photo Pamela Paterson (1995)
1995
Photo Pamela Paterson (1995)
1995

Click a photo to enlarge.

Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.